Live Like You were Dying
by Plutobaby494
Summary: Not really a song fic! The name for the song fit my story, so I went with it! Troy breaks up with Gabriella, but not for another girl. A much deeper reason. Trella TroyChad, deep friendship! No Slash!
1. Breaking up

Plutobaby494: Ok, this is my first HSM, story so be nice! Oh, and by the way, the words in italic will be memories and flashbacks!

Disclaimer: Don't own High School Musical!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

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Chapter 1

Gabriella sighed as she stared at the blackboard. She was in Math trying to concentrate but was having a hard time. All her thoughts had been on lately was Troy Bolton, Wildcats Superstar, and hottest boy in school. They had gotten together almost a month after the big Musical, he had asked her out and she accepted. A few days later they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Gabriella had been in pure bliss, since the big day.

"Ms. Montez, could you repeat what I just said" Mrs. Rubbre her math teacher said.

Gabriella winced and mentally scolded herself for day dreaming about her boyfriend in the middle of class.

"Sorry Mrs. Rubbre, I can't" Gabriella said looking down in shame. Mrs. Rubbre looked at her star pupil and said in a scolding voice.

"Please try and pay attention, Ms. Montez" she said before turning back to her lecture.

She again tried to concentrate but found it extremely hard. Troy had been avoiding her lately and had been absent a lot the past few days. Maybe something was going on at home, and he did not tell her about it.

The bell rang and Gabriella jumped, she had been so lost in thought that she did not notice the time. Gathering her stuff she left the classroom with her thoughts still on Troy.

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Troy was walking back from chemistry when his bruise on his elbow started throbbing. He got that when Chad had accidentally bumped into him at basketball practice and he hit the ground hard trying to catch himself. That was almost two weeks ago. Even thought he knew why his bruise was still there, he still wished there was a way to change his fate. He remembered when he first found out about his disease a few months ago.

**_/A Few Months Ago/_**

_Troy waited anxiously in the doctor's office, he had told the doctor about the bruise and had it checked. Hid doctor said that he had to run some blood tests. _

_His mom and dad were also sitting with him. Amber Bolton sat with her son on the examining table and whispered comforting words to him. While Jack Bolton was standing next to the wall annoyed that this was taking so long, this was actually a cover up for how nervous he was. _

_When the doctor came through the door everyone let out the bated breath that they hadn't realized they were holding in. _

"_Jack, I got Troy's test results back and have sent them over to Roswell Medical Hospital for further tests" he said a little remorsefully. _

"_Why would he even need these tests in the first place?" to the Jack said walking closer doctor, trying to hide the shakiness out of his voice. Troy's doctor and his dad had been high school buddies and Jack knew that he would not kid around with something like this. _

"_I'm sorry, Jack. But if Roswell Medical comes up with the same conclusion as we have, than….." the doctor said trailing off. Troy got really scared after he heard this. _

"_Alan, what are you saying?" Amber said standing up even more scared than she was a minute ago. _

"_Please Amber, go to Roswell and get his results, they will explain everything there" Alan said than excused himself before he broke down and told him. _

_**/The next day/**_

_Troy sat in the waiting room at Roswell Medical Hospital pretending to been reading a magazine. His parents sat on both sides of him trying to stay calm. _

"_Troy Bolton" the nurse called looking around. Jack stood up quickly and got the nurse's attention. _

"_That's my son" Jack said. Amber and Troy stood and walked over to the nurse. _

"_Ok, if you'll just come with me" she said in a cheery voice. They followed the nurse down the hall and into a room where she left, telling them that the doctor would be right with them. They didn't have to wait long before a middle-aged man came into the room in a doctor's uniform. _

"_You must be Troy" he said walking over. Troy nodded nervously. He had never really liked hospitals. Ever since he had to come here to get his tonsils out when he was ten, he had a bad fear of what it meant when you had to come here. _

"_I am Dr. Williams, and I will be the doctor examining you" he said than pulled on some white rubber gloves. After taking his vital signs and taking a vial of new blood, he excused himself saying he was going to compare the results with the ones that they did yesterday. At what felt like an hour later Dr. Williams finally came back with a grim look on his face. _

"_What is it Doctor" Amber said standing up from the chair she had been sitting in. _

"_I don't know if you have been told, but yesterday when his blood arrived. I was told that it was to be checked for any abnormal signs and that what your regular doctor got when he examined you blood was not good, thus the reason he sent it here" Dr. Williams said. _

"_Yes, Dr. Scott told us to ask you" Amber said in a surprisingly calm voice. _

"_I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your son has leukemia" he said. _

_Amber gasped and Jack looked like he had been shocked with lightning. Troy just looked at his hands and tried to process this information through his head. _

"_What" Amber said than covered her mouth with her hand. _

"_After we tested his blood more thoroughly today we found more about it. He had what we call Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Which means that his cells are growing abnormally white blood cells along his lymphatic system, and are pushing out all the good white blood cells along with some of you red blood cells and your platelets" Dr. Williams continued. _

"_What do we do?" Jack asked moving to stand by his son. _

"_We can get him started on chemotherapy and hope that they can get some of the most dangerous abnormal cells. Although I am not saying that he will be cured, there is no cure for Leukemia, but we can lengthen his life by cleaning out his lymphoid" the doctor said. _

"_How long does he…" Amber asked trailing off, not able to finish. Dr. Williams caught what she was trying to say. _

"_It will all depend on how his body reacts to the chemotherapy, and if we can get the abnormal ones cleaned out so his body can make new ones" Dr. Williams said. _

_Troy looked up for the first time and looked at the doctor. _

"_Will I lose my hair" he said thinking of how awkward it would be to go to school. _

_The doctor laughed slightly despite the seriousness of the situation, and even Jack had to smile slightly at his son. _

"_No, your hair will stay right on top of your head" he said. _

_They thanked the doctor and left after getting a schedule to come and see him for the chemotherapy. The drive home was a very quiet one. _

_**/End Flashback/**_

Troy rubbed his elbow in attempt to stop the throbbing. After the pain was mildly down he continued on his way back only to be cornered by the Ice Queen.

"Hey Troy" Sharpay said flipping her hair a little.

"Hi" he replied not really in the mood to deal with her.

"So I really missed you at school yesterday" she continued. Yesterday had been his last chemotherapy treatment when Dr. Williams had told him that his body had stopped responding to the treatment. Today he was planning on breaking up with Gabriella, not because he didn't love her. He didn't want to die and have her weep over him, so he planned to break it off and keep her from having future aggravation.

"Troy…. Troy" Sharpay yelled trying to get his attention. He had zoned out there a little.

"Yes" he replied looking at her.

"Were you ignoring me there?" she asked snootily.

"No, I have just had a lot of things on my mind lately" he replied trying to cover up.

"Oh, let me guess. You were thinking about that Gabriella" she said jealously.

"Um….." Troy said trying to guess what her reaction would be. Having a girl yell at you in the middle of the hallway would not be a good thing.

Luckily her brother Ryan saved him.

"Hey Shar, why don't you give Troy a break" he said walking up behind him. The blonde boy still wore a drama hat to school but had cooled down since he lost to Troy for the musical. After that they had actually became friends.

Sharpay pouted putting out her bottom lip but finally gave in.

"Ok, see you in class Troy" she said than walked away.

"Thanks" Troy said to Ryan, glad that Ryan had come to his rescue.

"No problem, I'll see you at lunch" he said than walked in the opposite direction of his sister. Troy nodded than continued down the hall to where his locker was.

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"_What do you mean he stopped responding to the treatment?" Jack said trying not to yell. He looked at Dr. Williams. _

"_The treatment is not working and it's actually doing more harm than good" the doctor said defending himself. _

_Jack sat down and rubbed his eyes, trying to not cry. _

"_I am sorry, but we didn't catch the disease on time and it has already spread throughout his body. If we continue we could actually speed up his death rate" Dr. Williams said trying to calm him down. _

_Amber hugged her son. Troy had been hoping that these last few months had just been a bad dream. He had lost a lot of weight and had been feeling nauseous since the first treatment. His face had also paled a lot in comparison from lack of food. Not like he was meaning to starve himself, he just did not have an appetite lately. Something he had realized was the cancers doing. Plus, Chemotherapy just hurt. _

"_Is there something else we could try, another treatment" Amber asked, already suspecting the answer. _

"_No, I am sorry" Dr. Williams said his voice full of sorrow. It was always hard to watch families that had to go through this. _

"_How long?" Jack asked not trusting his voice to complete a full sentence with out breaking down. _

"_By the rate his cancer is spreading I would say, six months to a year, maybe longer" the doctor replied. _

_Amber started sobbing and laid her head against her son's shoulders. _

"_What do I do? About my friends and school?" Troy asked finally finding his voice. _

"_I would try and live your life, like normal. And live out the rest of your life to the fullest" Dr. Williams replied. _

"_What about my friends?" Troy asked. _

"_It's your choice to tell them, if you want to" he replied again. _

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Gabriella opened her locker and a paper fluttered to the floor. Smiling she knew who it was from. She put her books away and shut her locker. It was free period and she didn't need them. Crouching she picked up the note and opened it.

**Gabi**

**Meet me at the balcony. I have something important I need to tell you. **

**Troy**

Smiling she folded the note back up and ran towards the steps that would take her to Troy and hers special spot.

When she got there Troy was already there trying to break the news lightly to her. He had planned on breaking up with her and not telling her about his disease, in fact he didn't want to tell anyone.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh Gabi, hey" he said moving over and making room for her on his bench. She sat down and faced him.

"Are you ok? You look pale" Gabi said looking more closely at him. He defiantly had lost weight and he looked like he was part of the living dead.

"Yea, I just….. I'm fine" he said not telling the truth. In fact, he had been feeling horribly lately and he knew why.

She nodded but still looked worried.

"So you wanted to tell me something?" she asked secretly hoping that he would confide with her why he had been acting so strange lately.

"I just wanted to say, that being with you has been the best moment in my life. And that I will always love you" he said trying to come up with a way to break it gently.

"Is that all?" she asked confused. He was acting all weird and jittery.

"No, I guess what I am trying to say is that I can't go out with you anymore" Troy said shakily.

"What?" she said as tears started to form in her eyes. Never in a million years had she thought this would ever happen. What had she done?

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked voicing her question.

"No. Never" he said placing his hand on her cheek. She looked into his eyes and hoped that this was one big joke and that she could pay him back later for.

"Than why?" she asked when she realized that this was real.

"Something happened, and I….." he said trailing off, not quite knowing how to explain without telling her.

"You what? Found another Girl, one that you like better" she said with venom in her voice.

"Gabi I- he started to say but was interrupted when Gabriella slapped his hand away and ran back down the stairs. Unfortunately for Troy, when she got back down, the first person that she ran into was Chad, Taylor, and the rest of the gang.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Plutobaby494: Ok, so how was it!

PLEASE R&R


	2. Friends Forever

Plutobaby494: Here is the next Chappie for you. Thanks to all my reviewers!

Disclaimer: Don't own High School Musical!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

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Chapter 2

Gabriella ran until she found herself in the arms of someone and could hear Taylor trying to calm her down. She couldn't believe it, he had actually done it. Broken up with her and she didn't even know what she did.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" Taylor asked trying to get some answers to what made her friend cry like this. Chad held her as his girlfriend tried to talk to her.

"He……" Gabi said not being able to finish.

"Who?" Taylor asked wanting to know, so she could beat the living day lights out of them for hurting her friend. Gabi didn't reply but just kept sobbing against Chad's shoulder.

"Where's Troy, maybe he can help?" Ryan said. Hearing his name made Gabi cry harder and clutch Chad's shirt.

Gabriella was spared from explaining when the person that they were all talking about came running down the stairs.

"Gabi, wait" he said before running up to her. Everyone expected Gabriella to jump in his arms but they were all surprised when all she did was stand and glare at him as if she had never been crying in the first place.

"What Troy?" she asked angrily.

"Gabi, you didn't let me explain?" he said but she wouldn't listen to him. She walked out of Chad's arms and down the hall with Troy following her leaving five very confused people.

"Ok, does anyone know what that was about?" Jason asked staring after them. Chad and Ryan just shrugged while Taylor and Kelsi looked worriedly after their friends.

"Gabi, wait" Troy said again following her down the hall.

"You already told me what you want, but let me ask you this. Is it Sharpay?" Gabi asked angry.

"No, it's not another girl" he said trying not to dig himself into a bigger hole.

"Than what Troy, what did I do to make you so unhappy?" she yelled gaining everyone's stares in the hall.

Troy didn't answer her and she ran into the nearest place she could get rid of him, the girl's bathroom. Troy tried to follow her but was stopped when the door shut and he laid his head against the concrete wall next to it.

The bell rang signaling that free period was over and he looked back at the door. He knew Gabriella would never skip class, but his was at the other end of the school and he would be late if he didn't get moving.

With one more look back at the door and a silent apology to his girlfriend he ran off in the other direction heading for class.

Gabriella sighed and pushed open the door after she heard him leave, knowing that he wouldn't be late for his next class. Wiping back the last of her tears she left for her next class also.

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"Gabi, what was that all about?" Taylor asked in her next class.

"Are you and Troy having a fight?" she asked again.

Hearing his name almost made her burst out into tears but she held them in. They were supposed to be doing a project with partners. She and Taylor were partners.

"He broke up with me" she said finally being able to tell someone. Taylor gasped and was shocked. She like everyone thought that Troy and Gabriella were meant for each other and would never brake up. Guess she was wrong.

"Why that…..' Taylor said not being able to come up with a mean name for him.

Gabriella let an involuntary sob come and wiping the fresh new tears that came.

"Do you know why?" Taylor asked. Even though she hurt her best friend, he was still her friend and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"No" Gabriella said trying not to cry.

"Oh Gabi, I am so sorry. I'll stop being friends with him for you" Taylor said hugging her. "And I can get Chad too and he can get the rest of the team to hate him for you"

Gabriella was about to tell her that she didn't want that but than Sharpay came over and smirked at her. She than gave her the "I know something you don't" look and walked over to her seat. So Gabriella just nodded into her friend's shirt.

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Troy walked out of his math class and met up with Chad.

"Hey, what was up with Gabi this morning" he asked walking down the hall towards the lunchroom. It was lunch time and Chad was hungry.

"It's nothing, besides there's no doubt that she told Taylor. So you'll find out soon enough" Troy replied moodily.

"Ok" Chad said still confused.

"Hey, I am not very hungry, so I am going to skip lunch and go practice" Troy said than walked off before Chad could say anything. Chad looked after him with an even more confused look on his face.

Chad entered the lunchroom and grabbed his lunch. He found the girls easy and went and sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Hey, Chad we are not friends with Troy anymore spread it around to Jason, Zeke and Ryan" she said before he had the chance to speak. Kelsi nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Um…why?" Chad asked confused. **(Authors Note: Poor Chad)**

"Because he was a jerk and broke up with Gabi for no reason" Taylor said.

"What do you mean? He must have had a good reason" Chad denied.

"No, he didn't" Gabriella replied with venom in her voice.

"Well, that's not like Troy. I have known him since pre-school and he would never act like this?" Chad said trying to stick up for his friend.

"Than why don't you go ask him, why he's such a jerk" Taylor said rudely and the girls got up and walked off mad. So that's just what he did, after he ate his lunch.

He entered the gym to see Troy shooting free throws. Sneaking up on him he stole the ball and took a shot. The ball flew and landing into the hoop and he turned to his best friend smirking.

"Two points" Chad said. Troy rolled his eyes.

"That wasn't fair, you snuck up on me" Troy said folding his arms.

"You just have a bad attention span" Chad said grabbing another ball and shooting it, this time missing.

"So what's up?" Troy asked.

"I just talked to Gabi and Tay" Chad said picking up a ball and passing it to Troy.

"Oh, so you want to hate me too?" Troy said catching the ball.

"No" Chad said.

"Why?" Troy asked confused.

"Even though I love Taylor, and Gabi is my friend. You are my best friend and we have been that way since pre-school and we have stuck together since than. Me and Tay have been going out for a couple months and I have known Gabi only a couple months too. Now don't get me wrong, I think that you made a stupid decision but we are friends, I'll stick with you always" Chad said.

Troy smiled and passed the ball back to Chad who shot it into the hoop.

"Besides we're a team, teammates stick together" Chad said.

Troy did something that surprised Chad. He walked over and hugged him.

"Thanks, I really need a friend now" Troy said as tears gathered up in his eyes. Why was life so unfair, he had great friends and a woman he loved?

"Lets' talk dude" Chad said leading Troy over to the bleachers and sat down.

"Why did you break up with Gabi?" Chad asked.

"I can't explain, I love her but something happened" Troy said not telling the whole truth.

"Can you tell me?" Chad asked.

Troy nodded his head no and looked down at his sneakers. Chad was about to ask something but the bruise on Troy's elbow caught his attention.

"Didn't I give that to you a week ago?" he asked pointing to it.

"Um..." Troy said looking at his elbow, knowing that he would have to tell.

Troy was in fact saved from answering when the bell rang signally lunch was over.

"Well I have to get to class" Troy said than walked out of the gym leaving a very confused Chad. The gears in Chad's brain starting turning and than he left the gym not wanting to be late for his next class"

TO BE CONTINUED

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Plutobaby494: Ok, well I got the next one up.

PLEASE R&R


	3. Basketball Practice

Plutobaby494: So Sorry, that I took so long updating. The hard drive on my computer fried so I had to start from scratch. I was so mad! Anyway, I hope you like this update!

Disclaimer: Don't own HSM! Wish I did though!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

Chapter 3

Troy sighed and shut his locker with a loud slam, it was the end of the day and he only had basketball practice left before he could go home. Something he was not really looking forward too. He still loved the game, but lately he had been feeling more tired lately and his limbs were sore from the simplest of practices.

He had of course not told his dad, because he knew his father would overreact and tell him he couldn't play anymore. Something he did not want to do. He turned to leave but jumped back when Chad's face appeared in his own.

"You ok" Chad asked chuckling. Troy mock glared at him, than he nodded. They started down the hall towards the gym, and Chad turned to him.

"So do you want to finish that conversation we had during lunch" Chad asked.

"Not particularly" Troy countered.

"What's going on Troy? Are you in some kind of trouble? We've been friends since we were both in diapers, and can tell each other anything" Chad said trying to get through to Troy.

Troy stopped and looked down to the floor. Chad was right, they told each other everything.

"Ok, but if I tell you, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone. Especially Gabi" Troy said turning to Chad.

Chad nodded, whatever had shaken Troy this much had to be big.

Troy opened his mouth prepared to tell the whole story when a voice interrupted them.

"Troy, Chad come on, you're late for practice" Coach Bolton yelled startling both boys. Troy looked at Chad apologetically and they both ran towards the gym where everyone was waiting for them.

The entered the boy's locker room and took out the practice jerseys. Suiting up Chad turned to Troy expecting him to answer but he just shook his head.

"I'll tell you after practice, we'll walk home together" Troy said than walked out of the locker rooms. Chad sighed and followed him onto the gym.

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"Ok, boys I want to do a simple layout" Coach Bolton shouted. His team nodded and let to go get the balls from the rack. Troy sighed and pushed his body forward, but every step felt as if he had jelly for legs. After running around the gym to warm up and stretching his already sore limbs, he was tired. He usually didn't get tired till after the first few practices.

"You ok, Troy" Chad asked walking up behind him. He noticed how tired Troy seemed to be and was worried.

Troy nodded "Yea, I just didn't get much sleep last night, and can't wait to go home and crash" He smiled to make it believable and grabbed a ball.

"Ok, but don't push it we need you for the game in a few weeks" Chad said grabbing his own ball and following him.

The lined up in two lines. One ran with the ball and shot at the hoop when the reached it. The other ran along side with the first line and caught the ball as it went through the hoop. They did this for two times until it was Troy's turn to shoot again. He ran forward like he was supposed and shot but lost his footing as he jumped.

Landing hard, he stumbled falling on his right ankle. He stood up quickly but when he put pressure on his foot he cringed in pain and stumbled. Chad reached out and helped him steady. After a minute of not walking on it, the pain dulled down so he could put pressure on it and jumped back in line.

"Troy, I want to sit out for the rest of practice. We don't need you injured for the game" Coach Bolton said coming out and gently putting his hand on Troy's shoulder. Everyone could see that that was not the only reason he wanted his son out of practice. Real worry, shined in his eyes.

"But Coach, I'm fine" Troy insisted.

"Troy, bench" Jack said more fiercely and Troy gave up. Not only was he his father but he was also his coach.

Troy didn't say anything and just walked over to the red benches and sat down. For the rest of practice he just watched his teammates practice and rubbed his foot. He could already feel the bruise appear where he landed and the swelling start.

"Ok, that's all for today. Get showered, and be on time tomorrow" Jack said looking at his son and Chad at the last part. Chad started towards Troy but Jack stepped out in front of him.

"Chad, why don't you go get showered. I need to talk to him first" Jack said gently. Chad nodded and headed back towards the lockers. As soon as he stepped into the locker room, sweat and stink met his nose. He usually waited until all the others had showered and put away the balls with Troy to avoid the smell. But today he couldn't but still didn't want to shower just yet.

Stepping out into the gym again he heard Troy and his dad start talking and started walking towards the hall not wanting to eavesdrop. But he stopped suddenly curious.

**(Authors Note: you're going to see it as Troy and Jack talking but Chad is just hiding and listening to their conversation)**

"Troy, you have to take it easy, we don't want to put more stress on you than we have too" Jack said walking over to his son.

"Dad, what does it matter anymore? I stopped reacting to chemo, and we have nothing else to try" Troy said rounding on him.

"Is your foot ok?" Jack asked suddenly, changing the subject. Troy stared at him for a moment and than looked down at his swelling foot.

"Yea, it's just bruised" Troy replied, his voice going small.

"Maybe you should tell your friends, they could help" Jack said sitting next to his son.

"I was going to tell Chad before you yelled at us in the hall" Troy said. It wasn't meant to be accusatory. He was just stating a fact.

"What about the girl, you were going out with…. Gabriella" he said trying to remember her name. Troy smiled when she was mentioned but it quickly left when he remembered he broke it off.

"I broke up with her today" Troy muttered. Jack was shocked. Over the last few months all Troy would talk about was his girlfriend. Sure he didn't love the girl for taking him away from basketball but he didn't hate her.

"Why?"

"The same reason why I didn't tell anyone else Dad, in sixth grade Jason's aunt passed away from a brain tumor. He was miserable for weeks. I don't want to be a bother to any of my friends" Troy said standing up. His foot throbbed at the sudden movement and than the weight that was put on it, but it didn't bother him.

"Troy, you're not a bother to anyone, and shouldn't you spend this next year with your friends being happy. Dr. Williams said to try and live your life as normal as possible" Jack said following his son.

"So what happens than, for the next six months I get all of my friends to stare at me with pity and than one day I'll just be gone. How will that be good for any of my friends, to have fun with me than come to my funeral" Troy cried.

"Troy-

But Troy cut him off. "I don't want that for anyone, it's better if there mad at me, than to see them mourn for me. It's my choice Dad" Troy finished. Jack had tears shinning in his eyes and Troy turned away.

"I have to get home and do my homework" Troy said and without waiting for a response walked out of the gym and into the locker rooms to change, leaving his dad standing there.

The first thing he noticed was that the locker room was empty. The team had showered and left, but what was most puzzling was that Chad was not waiting for him. In all his life, Chad was always persistent and if he wanted something he usually stuck around till he got it.

Troy shrugged, he didn't really want to tell the story anyway, and pulled off his sweaty jersey. The door from the gym opened and Chad came up next to him. Troy knew that by how he came in and the way he was looking at him, he knew.

"You were listening?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Chad nodded and sat down across from him.

"I didn't want to eavesdrop but I didn't want to take a shower with everyone and tried to get out before I heard anything but than I guess I got curious" Chad explained.

Troy nodded not really mad, he was really glad that he got it off his chest and someone else knew.

"Can you explain? I'll bet there's a lot more to the story" Chad asked, seeing his best friend wasn't mad.

Troy paused in his dressing and hung his head. After a minute of silence, he looked back up at Chad.

"I have Leukemia" Troy muttered softly. Before Chad could comment, he continued.

"Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, more specifically, basically what if means that my blood cells are growing abnormally and are pushing out the ones that they didn't infect"

Chad stayed silent throughout the entire speech and when Troy finished, he continued to stare into his lap.

"But they have that chemotherapy that you can do and they can fix it right" Chad said in a pleading voice.

"I already did do Chemo, but my body stopped responding to it and the Doc, said it's actually doing more harm than good" Troy replied.

"And cancer is incurable, you know that" he finished.

Chad never cried in front of his friends, it didn't seem manly. But this was too much. Tears started falling down his face and he had to try and keep his voice steady.

"How long do you have?" he asked.

"Dr. Williams, the one who diagnosed me, told me six months to a year, maybe longer" Troy replied.

Chad was silent after that and just stared into space. Troy finished packing his sweaty jersey and decided he would rather just take a shower at home.

Coach Bolton stuck his head through the locker room doors and shouted his son's name.

"Troy, do you want to walk home or catch a ride. I'm leaving soon" he called. Troy looked up at Chad.

"Can we give Chad a ride home" he yelled back.

"Yea, but hurry, your moms going to be mad if were any later" came the reply, than the locker room door was heard shut.

Troy finished packing and Chad did his in silence.

"Please don't tell anyone" Troy asked, though it sounded like he was pleading.

"But Troy-

"Please"

At the urgency in his friend voice he silently nodded.

"Thanks" Troy said, walking out to find his dad. Chad just stared at the space his friend once occupied, lost in thought.

The ride home that night was done in silence, all concentrating on their own thoughts.

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That night Chad sat at the computer screen, silent tears falling down his face. He had been curious about Troy's disease. He wanted more information on how to help his friend and to understand.

What he found was more than enough for him to be in tears.

_Leukemia is a type of cancer. Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, which make up blood and other tissues. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. In people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells. At first, leukemia cells function almost normally. In time, they may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This makes it hard for blood to do its work. _

He even went farther and looked up the type of Leukemia that Troy said he had.

_The types of leukemia are grouped by how quickly the disease develops and gets worse. Leukemia is either chronic (gets worse slowly) or acute (gets worse quickly): _

**_Acute lymphoblastic leukemia:_** _An acute form of rapidly progressing form of leukemia that is characterized by the presence in the blood and bone marrow of large numbers of unusually immature white blood cells destined to become lymphocytes. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is also called acute lymphocytic leukemia and is abbreviated ALL (spoken not as the word "all", but as the three letters A-L-L). ALL is the most common cancer occurring in children, representing almost 25 of cancer among children. _

Chad closed the window and turned off his computer. He walked to his bed and collapsed in complete exhaustion, falling asleep immediately.

TO BE COTINUED

Plutobaby494: Okay, please review, I want to know what you think!

PLEASE R&R


	4. Old and New Friends

Plutobaby494: Okay, I have the next on up for all you loyal readers! Hope you like!

Disclaimer: Do not own HSM, no matter how much I beg!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

* * *

Chapter 4

Troy and Chad sat in the lunchroom the next day silently eating their lunches. Well Chad was eating; Troy was more pushing his food around his tray. Chad looked up at his friend curiously.

"You ok man?" he asked. Troy looked up at him and nodded. Chad was about to ask more but was interrupted when Jason and Zeke came by and sat down.

"So why are you guys sitting here and not with the girls?" Jason asked staring off towards them. Gabrielle, Taylor and Kelsi sat across the room and every so often Taylor would look over and give them all dirty looks, than turn back to the rest of them.

"Well, when Troy broke up with Gabi, well Taylor kinda rejected us" Chad said vaguely.

"She rejected her boyfriend" Zeke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I sided with Troy and she dumped me I guess" Chad said shrugging. Troy felt his stomach drop when he heard this. He didn't think at first that this would mean that they would break up. But than he knew that was pretty stupid of him. Taylor could be mean but she was just looking out for a friend and would go to any measures to make sure that one of her friends was ok. Now feeling guilty he swallowed and dropped his fork.

"Yea, well I sided with my best friend and she took it personally" Chad said shrugging it off as if it were nothing.

"Wow, I don't think I could ever do that with Kelsi" Jason said taking a bite of his lunch.

"Yea, well hang around me anymore and it will come true. You guys should go hang out with them, this is Gabrielle and my problem. You shouldn't have to suffer because of us" Troy said speaking for the first time. To his surprise no one moved.

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked confused.

"Chad and Taylor have broken up because of our problem, you shouldn't have to throw away a good relationship because of that" Troy said softly.

All three boys looked shocked to say the least.

"Troy, we wouldn't do that" Zeke said looking around for help. Jason nodded.

"No way, were teammates we stick together. We were with you when you wanted to try out for the musical" Jason said. Troy raised his eyebrow at him.

"Okay so were with you in the end but the point is, that we stuck with you than and were sticking with you now. Girlfriends come and go but true friends stay with you forever" Jason said. Zeke nodded in agreement, while Chad looked as if he were going to cry.

"Thanks guys" Troy said smiling. They nodded and the topic turned to lighter things. Basketball, homework, classes, basketball, they talked for a while until Chad noticed something. Troy had hardly touched his lunch. Since they were basketball players, they worked out and burned off the fat easily. They usually had hearty meals to accommodate for that.

"Are you not hungry" Chad asked. Troy shook his head.

"No, I don't have much of an appetite today" Troy said. Though that was only half true, he wasn't hungry very often and had lost some weight.

"You sure?" he asked again with concern in his eyes. Troy nodded and was about to speak but the bell rang signaling that lunch was over and it was time to get to class.

"I'm fine Chad, just not very hungry" Troy said standing up and walking his tray to the garbage. He dumped his barely eaten food into trash and piled the tray.

Chad just nodded not really believing him but didn't push the subject.

"I'll see you guys at practice tonight" Troy said than walked down the hall away from his friends. Chad stared after his friend than turned the opposite direction and followed Jason and Zeke.

Troy sighed as he rubbed his elbow it wasn't bruise that was bugging him. It was his elbow itself and his knees. They were aching with every step he took. He didn't know how he was going to get through the rest of the day, let alone practice.

He grabbed his biology book from his locker and turned around quickly bumping into someone in the process. Books fell everywhere and a girl sat on her butt in front of him.

He cursed silently and kneeled in front of her. She had large glasses that looked to large for her face and curly long brown hair that was braided into pig-tails.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked helping her pick up her books. They stood and the girl looked at him in awe.

"Your Troy Bolton" she said in a shocked voice.

He smiled. "Last time I checked"

She laughed and let out a snort in between it and she covered her mouth.

"Sorry, sometimes that happens when I do that" she said, her face deep red.

He laughed quietly.

"No it's nothing to apologize for, we all have those embarrassing things we do" he said. She laughed again, this time without the snort.

"So I actually never got your name" he asked, though he vaguely remembered her. She looked away.

"It's Bailey Summers, we had a project in science last year" she said quietly. He mentally slapped himself and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just been so long, and I've had a lot on my mind" Troy said pitifully, he actually had no excuse but that he forgot.

"No it's ok, why would the wildcat superstar remember me?" she said. Bailey looked close to tears and Troy felt guilty.

"No that's no excuse. I should have at least remembered your name. I am sorry Bailey" he said.

Bailey didn't say anything bust just smiled up at Troy.

"I saw you in the musical and I thought you were really good" she said in a happy tone.

"Uh… thanks' he said.

"Especially with that Gabrielle, your voices just fused together to form one beautiful voice" Bailey continued with her rant, not noticing how awkward it had got for Troy. At the mention of his now ex-girlfriend he looked away and felt sad but didn't want Bailey to notice.

"You're also a really good basketball player" she said ending her little speech that Troy had only heard half of.

"Thanks" he said again, not sure how to respond. She looked at the watch on her wrist and gasped.

"We're going to be late" she said quickly running off yelling a quick goodbye. Troy laughed quietly to himself and went in the same direction as Bailey. The bell rang just as he got to his class. His biology teacher looked at him in a scolding manner as he took his seat.

"Nice of you to show up Mr. Bolton" he said marking him tardy. Troy sighed and unconsciously rubbed his sore joints.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Gabrielle sighed as she stared at her English teachers head, it was bald in the center with dark brown hair on the sides. She was supposed to be paying attention to him but she couldn't get her thoughts off of Troy.

He had said that he had broken up with her, not because of another girl but wouldn't explain why. She had given him plenty of chances, why did he do it. Was she not pretty anymore or getting too boring?

Thoughts swirled around in her head and she rubbed her temples where a headache had started. Taylor looked at her worried.

She felt guilty, Chad had stuck up for his friend and Taylor had broken up with him. Though, she could why she did it, but did little to ease her guilt.

Her English teacher said something about a test tomorrow on what they talked about it class and Gabrielle silently groaned, she was going to fail.

"This is all you fault Troy, why can't I just get you out of my head" Gabrielle thought as the bell rang. She stood and walked over to Taylor.

"Are you ok? Did Troy try and come up with an excuse again" Taylor asked getting hostile.

"Yea I'm fine, and no he didn't. He hasn't even tried to talk to me today" Gabrielle said following her friend into the hall.

"Well, we should find you a new boyfriend" Taylor said in a determined voice. Gabrielle ignored her and continued.

"I'm a little confused, why would he do that and on top of that why won't he tell me why? Gabrielle said trying not to shout.

"He's a man, he probably found another girl and dumped you for her" Taylor said trying to be helpful.

"But he said it wasn't because of that" Gabrielle denied.

"He's probably lying. I told you he's no good when you first got here. Once a jock, always a jock" Taylor said.

"I just wish he would tell me" Gabrielle said glumly.

"Like I said before, we should find you a boyfriend that will take your thoughts off of Troy" Taylor said. As if he had been cued to walk in at that very moment and boy walked up to them, he turned to Gabrielle.

"Hi, I heard about what Troy did to you. And I think that you deserved a lot better" he said. The boy had on a plain dark blue shirt and blue jeans. He had a nice face and curly light brown hair.

"I know what you mean, she's heartbroken about it" Taylor said. Gabrielle looked at her annoyed. The news of their brake up had spread like wildfire and Taylor was not helping any. Yes she was heartbroken but she didn't want the whole school knowing.

"Gabi, this is Benjamin Adderson and he's an honor student that plays the sax in the band. And this is Gabrielle" she said introducing them.

"Pleasure to meet you, please call me Ben" he said sticking out his hand. She put her hand in his and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too" she said uncomfortably.

"I hope we can see each other again" he said than excused himself. Gabrielle turned to her friend annoyed.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"You need to get back into the dating swing and show Troy that you're not all hung up about him. You should go out with Ben, he's really nice" Taylor replied.

"I can't date. Troy and I just broke up yesterday. That's a little fast, and besides Ben didn't even ask me out" Gabrielle denied.

"Well, why don't you go ask him? Were not in medieval times, a girl can ask a guy out" Taylor said.

"If I ask him out will you drop this subject" Gabrielle asked.

"Maybe" was her only reply.

"Fine" Gabrielle said walking after Ben. She ran and caught up with him as he was taking stuff out of his locker.

"Ben do you want to go to out with me this Friday?" she asked quickly. He turned to her surprised.

"I would love too" he said. She smiled.

"Do you want me to pick you up or shall we just meet there?" he asked closing his locker.

"Either is fine" she said. He smiled.

"Ok, I'll pick you up at seven" he said than walked away. She sighed and turned back to where Taylor was waiting. If she had been paying more attention she would have noticed Zeke standing at his locker, that was conveniently two lockers down, with Jason. They had heard the whole conversation.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Plutobaby494: Well what do you think? Sorry it took so long, I was procrastinating!

PLEASE R&R


	5. Authors Note

Plutobaby494: Okay so this is not a new chapter, but thanks to a kind reviewer who pointed out my mistakes. I had been putting Gabrielle instead of Gabriella!

Oops! O-o!

So if you just want to pretend like you never noticed or even if you'd like to flame me to death, just thought you should know! Hope you'll still read my story, It was one in the morning when I wrote the chapter, so I didn't notice until after I put up the chappie! Though I'll try and get the next one up sooner!

Thanks to Brishty for pointing that out!


	6. The Date

Plutobaby494: I'm back… again!! Here is the next chappie, hope you like!!

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM!!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

Chapter 6

Gabriella cocked her head to one side and unconsciously bit the inside of her cheek. Friday had come and she stood in front of the mirror hours before her date. With Taylor's help she was picking her outfit for her date with Ben.

She scrunched her nose and turned to Taylor, shaking her head dejectedly.

"Sorry, I don't think this one looks good either" she said sadly sitting down on the bed next to her friend. Getting ready for this date did not make her nervous, in fact she almost felt in a hurry to get it over with. Was that right?

"Oh Gab, we've been though your entire closet. You need to pick an outfit, unless you plan to go stark naked" she said smirking. Gabriella gagged slightly. No she was not really looking forward to this date; she now couldn't even remember why she had agreed to go.

She buried her head into her arms, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Tay, what am I doing this for?" she asked, her voice muffled. Taylor turned to her.

"Because we need to get you over Troy, he's no good or you" she said trying to sound comforting. Gabriella let out a light sob as her thoughts came back to him. The one boy she wanted to forget, but her heart and head wouldn't let her.

Ever since she had met him at the ski lodge, she had felt a connection form through their singing. When the Musical came, she knew that she would have chickened out if not for Troy helping her every step of the way. Deep down she knew that she loved him, when she had first kissed him; fireworks had gone off, like in the movies. No one else in the whole world mattered in that one moment, only him.

_/Flashback/_

_Troy hesitantly stepped forward and Gabriella didn't back up. He took that an initiative to continue. _

"_Gabi, what would you do if I kissed you?" he asked walking till he was almost touching her nose. _

"_I don't know" she answered truthfully, her growing attachment to him confusing her. _

_He didn't answer but leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. The kiss was quick and chaste, but in that moment she knew things had forever changed between them. _

"_What would you do if I kissed you back?" Gabriella asked gathering her courage. He cocked his head slightly. _

"_I don't know" _

_She didn't wait, putting both her hands on each side of his face and kissing him. Unlike the first kiss, she was in control and deepened the kiss. They pulled apart and stared at each other, each body radiating love. _

_/End Flashback/_

She had known that he was the only boy in the school that could make her heart flutter like that, only him.

"Don't worry, when you go on your date tonight with Ben, you'll forget all about that poser" Taylor said her voice getting sharp at the end.

Gabriella didn't think it was going to be that easy.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Troy sighed and stared out his window. The clouds seemed to be portraying his emotions. Dark and Grey storm clouds covered the sky and a light drizzle was expected.

He had been dreading this day ever since Jason and Zeke had told him about Gabriella and Benjamin Adderson. He scowled when the name was mentioned, as Jealousy crept up.

He knew that he was acting childish, but he couldn't help it. He knew the very first time he sang with her that she was the girl for him, but why was life so unfair. Why did he have to concoct this stupid disease? Troy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the window. Despite the rain that threatened to fall in the clouds, the air outside was still warm.

"Troy" his mother called walking into the room, turning on the lights. Troy winced as the light hit his eyes and looked over to his mother.

"Yea, mom" he asked.

"Lunch is ready dear, do you want it downstairs or up here" she asked walking closer to her son.

"Not hungry" Troy moaned turning back to stare out the window. Amber sighed and walked over to her son, these last months had been the hard on both of them. Troy's eyes had shrunken back and he had gotten noticeably skinnier. Amber had red tinted eyes from crying.

Amber walked over and kneeled in front of her son, who was sitting on a chair next to window.

"Please eat something, baby" she said, tears gathering up in her eyes as she stared at her son. She reached up and ran a hand through her son's brown hair.

"You're scaring me! You hardly eat anymore and I know why, but will you at least try and eat something… for me" she asked, tears silently falling down her cheeks.

Troy sighed, the last thing he wanted to do was make his mom cry more. She had done that enough lately.

"Okay mom, but can I take it up here" he asked his voice coarse. She smiled and continued to run her hand through his hair.

"Of course, Baby" she said standing and walking out of the room.

Troy sighed closing his eyes silently waiting for his mother to come back with is food. Before he knew it though, his exhaustion caught up with him and he fell asleep leaning against the window.

Amber finished her son's sandwich and walked back up to Troy's room. When he had gotten home from school that day, he had dropped his school bags and retired to his room, not coming out. Deciding that he must be hungry she fixed him a light snack before dinner.

When she got back to his room, she was surprised when she found him asleep, leaning in an uncomfortable position, leaning on the window. She sighed and set the plate of food on his desk walking over to her son.

When he was considerately littler, she used to find him asleep in the weirdness positions trying to fake exhaustion, though it always caught up with him. He was no different even though he was older.

She smiled at the memory and gently picked her son up bridal style. She gasped at his weight. When he started basketball he had gotten skinnier but was always heavy because of his training. She could never have lifted him up.

"Oh Troy" she gasped her tears coming back. He was too light for his age.

Troy mumbled in his sleep and shifted ever so slightly. Amber gently laid him in his bed and covered his shaking body.

"Sleep tight, baby" she said gazing sadly down at her son and gently kissing his forehead. She silently retreated out of the room, leaving his snack on his desk in case he woke up hungry.

Troy turned in his sleep, lost to his dreams.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Benjamin Adderson climbed out the blue sedan and walked over the passenger seat, opening his for date, gentlemanlike. Gabriella climbed out of the car and looked around. She was wearing a light blue spaghetti strap dress that went down to her knees. It had sparkles around her breast area, but other than that it wasn't anything special. Her hear was let down, and her natural dark curls were hanging around her face.

Ben was in a black tux and dark red tie with his hair combed back. He smiled at her and they walked toward the restaurant. It was a cute café type and she smiled, he was trying his best for what little money he had.

The waiter seated them and she picked up the menu, after taking there orders an uncomfortable silence settled in.

"So, what's your favorite class" she blurted out, trying to start a conversation.

Ben blushed. "I really like chemistry" he said with a small smile.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I don't know there are a lot of fun classes in this school" she said happily.

"You just moved her last year right" he asked sipping his water. Gabriella nodded and for the first time in the last week her thought were not on Troy. They continued chatting, about school, hobbies, anything that seemed to interest them.

The food came and more talking was done. It seemed like anything that they could talk about they did. The one topic that did not come up was a certain boy. Gabriella sighed and flipped her hair as she laughed. The night was going better than she expected, and she found she was enjoying Ben's company.

After dinner they took a walk around the park, just enjoying talking to each other. As they walked, a silence settled but it wasn't uncomfortable, just quiet. She looked up at the stars and let her memory take her back, to a date similar to this on.

_/Flashback/ _

_Troy gently grabbed Gabriella's hand and she looked up at her boyfriend smiling. He smiled back as they walked through the park. It was dark, but the stars and the nearby lamps illuminated their path. _

"_So if you could be anywhere in the world, where would it be?" Gabriella asked. Troy bit his lip in thought than looked back to her. _

"_Hmmm… at the basketball court" he said playfully. She looked shocked and than lightly punched him in the shoulder. He laughed. _

"_That was a stupid question, you know that I don't want to be anywhere else, besides here with you" he said with amusement. She smiled and reached over gently kissing him. _

"_Me too" she said than kissed him again. This one was deeper, more probing. Troy fell back and landed on a green bench taking his girl in his arms. Smiling as he continued kissing her. _

_/End Flashback/_

She than noticed that she was sitting, she looked around to find herself and Ben seated at the same bench that she had made out with Troy in. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered and Ben looked at her worriedly.

"Are you ok? You looked a little out of it. So I had us sit down" he said gently. She smiled through her tear and brought the back of her hand to her eyes, rubbing the tears out of them.

"I'm alright" she said putting both her hands in her lap.

"You sure?" he asked gently scooting closer to her. She didn't notice.

"Yea, just had something in my eye" she said. Both of them new it was a lie. Gathering up his courage, he leaned in to kiss her. Seeing what he was about to do, she turned her head so he kissed her cheek.

She averted her eyes, and stared down at her lap pitifully. Ben just sat back dejected, his plan had failed.

"It's about Troy isn't it" he said already knowing the answer. She nodded and rubbed her hands together, as a salty drop of water fell on them. She put her hands to her face, to confirm it.

"You really love him, don't you" he said again knowing the answer. She nodded again and another silence settled.

He sat back knowing that the girl he had liked since the first time he had ever set his sights upon her, didn't like him back.

"Maybe you should take me home" she said sadly, gazing at him through her tears.

"Ok" he said and they climbed to there feet and headed for the car.

TO BE CONTINEUD

Plutobaby494: Okay for some reason this chapter bugged me. I think that I rushed the date a little!! Anyway please review, and thanks to all my kind reviewers!!!

PLEASE R&R


	7. Ending a Relationship

Plutobaby494: It's aright, I am not dead!! Though that's what I would have thought, if I was reviewing this story. What can I say, caught up in life!!

Disclaimer: Do not own HSM!! I'm not that rich!!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

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Chapter 7

The next morning Troy got up, ate breakfast, practiced basketball like nothing happened, like everything was normal. How Troy longed for everything to go back to normal, for his cancer to magically disappear and Gabriella would be meeting him after practice to go hang out, as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Out of all the things he missed, it was her that he missed the most, her voice, and her touch. His heart ached, along with the rest of his body, to wake up from this nightmare.

A cough brought his attention out of his musing and he was brought back to earth. He remembered, he was supposed to be practicing, but his head had other plans.

"You're getting sloppy" her beautiful voice said, commenting on his last basket that he had absently made, missing the hoop.

Troy laughed hesitantly, staring at the orange and black ball in his hands.

"I guess I am"

Gabriella walked over and grabbed the ball from him, and shot it, swishing it into the hoop.

The ball bounced a few times, before coming to a complete stop a few steps away from them.

"What's up Gabi?" he asked, his tone curious. The last time he checked, she wasn't talking to him. What was she doing at his house, acting like nothing happened?

He pinched his wrist to make sure this wasn't a dream that his subconscious had cruelly thought of, and would rip him awake before she tried to kiss him.

He was rewarded with a throbbing pain in his wrist and winced, remembering his fragile skin. He silently cursed his stupidity.

"Troy" she said, breaking him out of his musings yet again. He looked up at her.

"Last night, I went on a date, with Ben Adderson" she said, quickly, as if confessing a horrible sin.

Troy stared at her, as pain coursed though his heart. He bit his lip and looked at his shoes, willing the tears that had formed to stay in his eyes.

He nodded and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, he looked up and stared at the girl that had captured his heart, and was the only one who could make it ache so.

Her dark curly hair rimmed her heart shaped face. It hung messily behind her shoulders, suggesting that she had just woken up.

"Are you going to say something" she asked, scared of his silence. Her chocolate brown eyes stared longingly at him.

Troy could have hit himself, thought that would have been stupid now that he thought about it! It would hurt and probably just leave another bruise, just what he needed.

He swallowed, finally being able to control his throat muscles. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for hurting her, that she was the only girl for him. Words sprung from his brain, but the only thing his tongue could form was,

"Did you have fun?"

As if she didn't mean anything to him! As if he hadn't sat up all night, his heart breaking as he thought of her date and if she was enjoying it? And longing to be the one sitting across from her.

She brought her gaze down to the ground in front of her, a disappointing look appearing on her angelic face.

Troy mentally berated himself. Hadn't he screwed up her life already!!

He opened his mouth to apologize, but her voice beat him to it.

"I did. He took me to dinner than and we talked. And he tried to kiss me!" she said looking back to him, to gauge his reaction.

Troy ground his teeth, as a bout of jealousy flowed though his veins. How dare he?

Troy took deep breaths, trying to calm down. Technically he had no right to feel this, he gave up the right!!

He breathed for another second. He hoped his anger didn't show in his voice.

"Oh"

He didn't trust himself to say anymore. Not while she was here.

Gabriella nodded, "Yea, but the thing is. I couldn't stop thinking of you!"

Troy bowed his head in shame. He had to let her go, as much as he wanted this girl back into his arms, he couldn't lead Gabriella on like that! She shouldn't have to go through what was inevitably coming.

"Gabi" he moaned, his heart breaking at the words he was trying to say, "I…

His breath hitched in his throat as he tried to form hi next words, tears started pooling in his eyes.

"This really is it, isn't it? You're really dumping me" Gabrielle said, cutting his silence off, her voice shaking. She didn't look angry like last time, just sad.

Troy looked up to find, tears falling down her face. He nodded, again not trusting his voice.

Gabriella sniffled, and wiped her eyes. Reaching under her shirt she brought out a silver necklace, with a small sapphire pendant on it. He remembered saving up for months to buy it for their anniversary.

She undid the clasp and walked over, hanging it out in front of Troy. He put his hand underneath the small gem and she dropped it into his palm.

"Goodbye, Troy" she said, than turned around and walked away, not turning back.

Troy finally let his tears fall, as he watched her retreating back. He clenched the necklace in his palm.

"I'm sorry, Gabi. But it's better this way" he muttered.

He turned abruptly and walked back towards his house, leaving the court behind.

"It's better this way" he repeated, in his head. That mantra kept repeating itself, as he walked back inside, suddenly in no mood to play basketball.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chad came over on Sunday. They left in his green Sudan and drove into town, going to a movie together. Chad knew that he had a limited time with his best friend; he was not going to waste it!

All the way they chatted, talking about the current rumor floating around about Sharpay, they talked about the local basketball team and how they were sucking this year, stuff that they would normally be talking about.

Troy laughed as Chad broke out a joke his older brother had told him. And Chad couldn't help staring. It was so good to see Troy laugh or even smile for that matter. With the leukemia and things at school, Troy hadn't seen any point. And that's what scared Chad the most.

Troy seemed to give up; school didn't matter anymore, since he most likely wouldn't finish high school. It was heartbreaking to watch his best friend disintegrate right in front of his eyes.

They pulled into the parking lot of the theater, Chad turned off the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition.

Troy sighed, staring at the space ahead of him. Thoughts of last night flew thought his head. He had been trying to bloke them out talking to Chad, but once silence started they dominated his thoughts.

"You ok, man" Chad asked, after a moment of silence. Yes, Troy had taken part of the conversation, but it was like a part of him wasn't there.

Troy nodded, "It's finally over" he confessed, than told Chad about the events of yesterday.

After it was over, Chad looked back over the steering wheel. He wanted to tell Troy that he was being a complete idiot!! That he was wasting precious time with Gabriella, to share what time that he had. But this was Troy's decision and he had promised to keep this a secret, even though he wanted to go tell her, to correct Troy's stupid mistakes.

"You could still get her back" Chad probed. True, he couldn't say anything, but that didn't mean he couldn't try and change his stubborn friends mind.

Troy didn't answer at first, which gave Chad hope! Maybe he was finally getting though.

"No, I can't Chad" Troy said finally, crushing Chad's growing hope.

"Tro—

"Let's just go enjoy the movie" Troy interrupted, getting out of the car, successfully cutting him off.

Chad sighed and jumped out, following his friend.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Monday came around, and all the kids went back to school. Troy walked with his usual crowd of posse, slapping hands with people who he barely knew. It seemed that Troy had grown more popular with the musical and now everybody wanted to be his friend. The only difference was that Gabriella was not in his arms.

Sharpay winked as he passed, and smiled at him seductively.

He couldn't help but shutter when she had passed. He hoped that she knew that he, even though Gabriella was gone, was not available. And would not try and ask him out.

His posse gradually disappeared as they left in different directions, getting ready for the new school day. It was now only Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason walking towards their first period.

They passed Gabriella and his already broken heart, broke further as he gazed at her.

Ben Adderson, had his arm around her shoulders. She smiled until her eyes met his.

They stared at each other for a moment, before she quickly adverted her eyes to the floor in front of her until she had passed.

"Seems Gabi has a new boyfriend" Zeke muttered absently.

Both Jason and Chad elbowed him in the gut looking at Troy with worried eyes. Zeke grunted and held his bruised stomach than looked up at his friend, realizing his mistake.

Troy didn't say anything, but just walked into his first period class quickly. Chad glared at Zeke before following his friend.

TO BE CONTINEUD

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Plutobaby494: Don't worry; the story is far from over!! I hope I can get the next one up soon, but we'll just have to see! But I do appreciate all the positive feed back, it keeps me motivated!!

Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys keep this story alive!!

Shell-Bell87, MPPandHSMroxmysox, Soccerbabe12, carito06, Dracoisalooker76, blue-eyed bombshell, rlmont91, Marie S Zachary, Miss apple Pie, kathy222, ANGELMEGAN, HSMandHProxmysox.

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	8. Falling Into Darkness

Plutobaby494: Here is the next chapter! Hope you like!!

Disclaimer: Do not own the rights to HSM or any of the characters that star in it!! Just going to borrow them and promise to return in mostly one piece!!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

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Chapter 8

_The first sounds the Troy could hear was the loud babbling brook and the soft breeze hitting the long grass. He opened his eyes and than squinted when the sunlight burned his retinas. Blinking away the dizziness, he climbed to his feet. _

_His first conscious thought was of how beautiful it was. The long golden grass swayed in the summer wind and sound of two birds flying together, serenading the blue sky with their sweet songs, filled the air. He looked around and found himself standing next to a large stream with rocks penetrating the surface. A fish jumped out of the semi-calm water and caught a fly that was hovering over the surface. _

_Troy sighed and shut his eyes, tilting his head upwards towards the sky, losing himself in the world around him. _

_He opened his eyes in shock and rotated his shoulders as he discovered he felt no pain. The joints that had been aching and moaning these last few weeks moved with ease and painless serenity. The headache that had been hiding behind his eyes and had been continuously given him small bursts of pain was gone. _

_This had to be a dream. _

_He turned away from the brook and walked up the small hill, looking at the snow-covered peaks in the distance. The birds that had been flying around, playing with each other in the gift of flight, flew towards him and circled his healthy body. _

_He smiled and than watched as they flew off, disappearing over the next hill. He looked towards where they had gone and than frowned in confusion. At the top of the hill stood Gabriella, smiling down at him, pure joy on her angelic face. _

_Troy looked down at his healthy body with a look of uncertainly before running towards the love of his life, a smile on his face. She smiled and turned running the other direction but kept glancing back at him, the smile still on her face. _

_He blinked in confusion again but shrugged, running after her. She gained speed almost looking like a dot in the distance and Troy frowned, willing his feet to move faster. He stopped as she disappeared and he stopped a look of panic on his face. _

_Troy spun around looking for Gabriella and than stopped seeing something. A little ways away sat a small headstone for a grave. He walked over looking at it, sitting alone in the wide open field. _

_The grave was well taken care of, the grass around it clipped and the dirt cleared off it. He looked at the name of the person in the grave and felt his stomach drop. _

_**Troy Bolton**_

_**1990-2005**_

_He stared at his own grave with belated shock, his eyes as wide as saucers. The sky suddenly changed, from light blue to dark grey. He broke away from his gravestone and looked up at the clouds that were rapidly growing. No rain fell but thunder and lightning ravened the skis._

_The sound of the brook that he had thought was so far away was behind him. He spun around and saw it was rushing faster against the rocks at an alarming speed. More water spilled down the small brook and flooded the banks. The grass turned swampy as more water gathered around his ankles._

_He heard his name from behind him and turned. Gabriella's face met his. But instead of her smiling face she was crying, her face as wet as the ground underneath him. The water continued to fill the meadow, now up to just below his knees. His pants leg sagged and Gabriella's long black skirt was soaked. _

_He opened his mouth to say something but found she wasn't actually looking at him. She was staring at his grave. More tears fell down her face, messing up the mascara that rimmed her eyes._

_The water continued to climb till it was above his knees, soaking his pants legs. He was about move when he heard another voice. It called his name and he looked up at his ex-girlfriend. She was not alone anymore. _

_Chad stared at his grave, raw pain and grief clouded his dark orbs. His parents joined them with a blink of his eyes and stood, all staring at the same thing. The rest of the team appeared along with a few friends from school. All wore black. _

_The water now reached his waist and he finally found his voice, calling out. He screamed at them, to get away from this place. It was flooding and soon the entire meadow would be underwater. No one moved and it didn't even look like they could hear him. He continued screaming; wishing he would wake up from whatever had a hold of him. This couldn't be real. _

_Gabriella finally looked over at him. He gasped at the look in her eyes but found he couldn't' suck the air he expelled back into his lungs. The water had reached his chest, and was crushing it with brute force. He screwed his eyes shut as all his pain came back, sending stars to his eyes. He tried to inhale more air but found the water was over his head. The water clouded his eyes and his lungs screamed for more air. He felt like he was dying. _

Troy jerked awake in a cold sweat. He panted trying to control his rapid breathing, as the scenes from the nightmare still lingered but couldn't. His chest wouldn't expand and contract making his brain go into overdrive. He panicked not knowing why he couldn't breathe and looked at his torso, than groaned seeing Max sitting his fat body lazily on it.

Max was his cat that he had had since he was a small kitty. He was a Maine coon and tabby mix, his dark back fur mixed with grey. His face resembled more of a raccoon and had large green eyes.

He groaned and pushed him off, making Max land on his feet sit on his haunches, glaring up at him. Normally, he wouldn't have minded sharing a bed with the big cat but now it kinda hurt.

Max meowed at Troy, looking at his owner with begging eyes.

"You must be hungry" Troy muttered, seeing the look. Max meowed again and rubbed against Troy's legs when he stood.

Troy wiped the sweat off his brow and groaned feeling more of it underneath his arms. Stupid night sweats, he'd have to take a shower before he left for school.

He was half way to the door, with Max on his heels, when a small headache blossomed. Troy just rubbed his head in irritation and continued on, going to get ready for school.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Breakfast was quick, seeing as his dad had to go in early for a teachers meeting. He had offered to drive but Troy had declined. He didn't want to wait around for school when he could be sleeping for another half hour.

His father had understood, seeing how tired he had been lately. Normally, Jack would have forced Troy to go and get extra practice in. But his dad had been extra lax these last few weeks and it was grating on Troy's last nerve.

Amber Bolton walked into the quiet kitchen and almost tripped over Max, who was lying in the middle of the room, lazing about after his morning breakfast. She scolded the fat cat and than noticed her son was at the table, a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Oh, Troy. Did you have a good nights sleep" she asked, with a fake smile on her face. She cried when her son wasn't in the room, not wanting her son to see her depressed mood. His illness was showing on her but she tried to keep things normal for Troy. And he was used to see his mother smiling.

If only she knew that he saw through her mask and the pain she was hiding. Her one and only baby was dying.

Troy was tempted to tell her about his nightmare but decided against it. It would only worry her more.

"Yea, It was good" he said, hoping she believed his lie.

Amber nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee. She turned back to her son and noticed him playing with his barely eaten breakfast.

"You should eat before school, keep up you're energy" she said, a frown appearing on her face.

"Not hungry" Troy moaned, tiredly. Amber sighed and set down her coffee.

"Please, baby. You'll need the strength" she pleaded, walking over and hugging her son. She felt tears start to gather in her eyes but blinked them away, knowing she could cry later.

Troy relented and brought another bite to his mouth, forcing himself to swallow. He repeated and felt his stomach grow warm when he saw his mom smile.

After a few more bites, he climbed to his feet, dumping his barely eaten soggy cereal into the sink. Grabbing his backpack, he slung it over his shoulder. With his dad taking the car he was forced to walk but didn't mind, it was a sense of normalcy that he welcomed.

"I'm going to school, bye, love you" he called, running out the door before his mother could object and started down his street. His headache, that had gotten worse since this morning, was back. He groaned and wished he had taken some Advil before he left.

Troy just sighed knowing it was too late now. If he went back he would be late for school and might run into his mom. He ignored the dull pounding in his head and continued on his way. Maybe his dad had some stashed in his office he could steal.

He arrived at school with just enough time to drop his backpack at his locker and grab his books before running to his first period class. The bell rung just as he entered the room and Mrs. Darbus glared at him.

"Running late are we, Mr. Bolton" she said, pointing at the clock.

Troy smiled sheepishly at her and took his seat and wiped the excess sweat that had gathered on his brow. He sighed in irony knowing that his shower this morning was wasted.

Chad nudged him in the shoulder and Troy glanced back at him. His basketball, that he could sometimes be found spinning, was on the floor unused.

"You run all the way here?" Chad whispered seeing sweat dripping off Troy's body. It was meant as a joke.

"Yep" Troy said, breathlessly.

Chad gaped at him and was about to comment but Mrs. Darbus's screaming at them, stopped any more chatter.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Darbus's classroom was unusually quiet for everyone. Chad had yet to make one smart mouthed comment to Mrs. Darbus and Troy had remained unusually quiet. Zeke, Jason and the rest of their teammates had caught onto his mood and noticed neither of them were up for goofing off. Without them the class seemed… silent.

Mrs. Darbus kept glancing at them suspiciously. She didn't know if they were being good on purpose to gang up on her later or if they had a falling out.

Troy kept his head down during most of the class, trying to ignore the splitting headache that had started at the beginning of class. He rubbed his temple and shut his eyes, feeling the lights were starting to hurt and make his headache worse.

He felt Chad's eyes on his back and groaned quietly, feeling the pulsing headache throb behind his eyes.

"Mr. Bolton this is a classroom, not you're bedroom. If you quite done with you're beauty nap, I would like to continue with my lesson. The theatre would not stand for this mockery" Mrs. Darbus said, breaking him out of his aching musings.

He swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his throat and opened his eyes, warily.

"Sorry" he mumbled, quietly. Mrs. Darbus shot him a suspicious look mixed with uncommon worry, not used to having him sound so sincere when apologizing.

Troy shivered as chills racked his body but wiped the sweat that gathered on his brow. He felt a firm hand grip his shoulder but his head felt like someone was ripping it in half.

"You ok, man" Chad's worried voice, broke through his headache.

Troy grimaced but hoped his friend didn't notice, "Yea, I'm fine"

Chad raised a skeptical eyebrow and Mrs. Darbus interrupted him before he could comment.

"Boys, no talking without raising you're hands" she screeched. Troy winced as her loud voice did nothing but aggravate his throbbing head but mumbled another apology.

Mrs. Darbus continued her lesson, waving her hands dramatically as she depicted a scene in the book they were currently reading.

Troy felt his world spin and heard Mrs. Darbus's obnoxious voice as if he were standing behind a closed door. His eyes grew blurry and he shook his head, trying to clear his vision but regretted it a second later. His world spun and his head felt like someone was digging at it with a jackhammer. He didn't even notice he hit the ground as he felt disconnected with his body. Spots appeared in his eyes and the room got darker, his head continued to throb painfully.

His vision swam in and out and he vaguely felt another body kneeling next to his and muted screams in the background. Chad's voice broke through all the noise and he used what remaining strength he had to look up at his curly hair friend.

Chad's brown eyes were filled with tears and he screamed at one of the other students to call an ambulance. Troy heard Mrs. Darbus trying in vain to get control and he could have sworn Gabriella was kneeling on the other side of him.

He closed his as he lost consciousness, his world falling into darkness.

TO BE CONTINEUD

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Plutobaby494: Nope it's not over yet!! Thanks to all who have been patient with me!! Unlike some I can mention! (glares at my sister)

Sorry for the wait! Writers block really sucks! But I hope you liked it!

Thanks to all my reviewers!! You guys are the best!!

rlmont91, Dracoisalooker76, dreamer 3097, confusedcupcake, carito06, future.mrs.zac.efron, blue-eyed bomshell, MPPandHSMroxmysox, octhlver032223, BreakToTheStars, MissLovelyEagle9.

PLEASE R&R


	9. Rumors and Sickness

Plutobaby494: Hey, I'm back!! Hope you like the next chapter!!

Disclaimer: Do not own HSM! I just misuse them and such!! Then return them!!

ON WITH THE FICCIE

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Chapter 9 

Dr. Williams sighed as he looked at the empty waiting room of Roswell Medical Hospital. It had been a very slow night and was now looking at an equally slow morning. He silently rejoiced and handed a clip board to the desk nurse.

"I'll be in the on-call room, page me if I'm needed" he said, to the brown haired woman. She nodded and grabbed the clip board.

"Sure thing Doctor" she said, skeptically.

Fewer patients meant two things, one was, not as people needed their services and were living a normal life and two, more time for the doctors to sleep. It was a tiny blessing that most people took advantage of.

He made his way down the hallway and entered the on-call room, ready for a small nap. He had been on call last night and was tired.

Dr. Williams lowered himself onto the lower bunk of one of the metal bunk beds and closed his eyes. As soon as his breath leveled into a relaxing rhythm his pager went off, echoing throughout the small room.

He groaned and unclipped his pager from his waist band, than stood seeing as it was an emergency. He jogged to the front desk and than down to the pit where an ambulance was unloading a stretcher.

The paramedic raddled off the patients heart and blood pressure, while rolling the stretcher into the hospital. Dr. Williams locked onto the patients face and felt his heart swell. He recognized the boy immediately.

_Troy Bolton. _He noticed his lips and tips of his fingernails had a bluish tint. He was still breathing but was turning blue.

Dr. Williams snapped back into reality when the paramedic called him and than ordered his nurse to a trauma room. The same nurse that had been standing behind the front desk hooked Troy up to the monitor and the small beeps that told the doctors that the persons heart was beating was irregular, margins and spaces in between the beats.

"He's in V-fib" the nurse said, motioning for the code team to bring the defibrillator over. They handed her the paddles, which she passed to Dr. Williams. One of the other nurses cut Troy's shirt open and then splashed the clear gel onto his bare chest.

He looked up for a moment to see Troy's parents standing in the doorway. Amber was sobbing and calling for her son and Jack was trying to stop her from running into the room. The doctor noticed he was crying as well.

A shrill wailing coming from the monitor broke the Doctor out of his trance and looked to see the flat line. He placed the paddles on Troy's chest.

"Charge to 100 volts" he said, to the nurse. He heard the machine charge then pushed the button, yelling clear. Everyone jumped back a few paces as an electrical current went through Tory's fragile body.

The monitor continued to wail as nothing changed. Dr. Williams set the paddles back on Troy's chest.

"Charge to 200" he said.

"Clear"

Nothing.

Dr. Williams heard Amber's screams and pleas. He yelled for one of the nurses to get them out of here as he placed the paddles back on top of Troy's chest. He absently heard the nurse as she pushed the worried parents out of the room.

"Charge to 250"

"Clear"

The doctor sighed in relief as Troy's heart started beating after the last charge.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Chad tapped on the lunchroom table with his chewed up pencil impatiently. He glanced up at the caged clock that was hanging on the cafeteria wall, anxiously counting down the hours till school ended. Three hours had passed since his best friend had collapsed. Troy could be dying and all he was doing was sitting here. He felt like a rotten friend.

He remembered first period clearly, asking Troy if he was ok than watching him fall to the ground and lay there motionlessly. He had tried to get the paramedics to let him ride with Troy to the hospital but they had said no, saying they needed room to work on his friend. He knew that was bull.

They just didn't want to get caught. Taking an underage minor out of school without their parents or guardians permission was illegal. But at the moment Chad didn't care about legalities, hell he would have skipped school if principal Matsui hadn't threatened to call his parents and rat him out. Chad didn't need his parents yelling at him for doing such an irresponsible thing on top of everything else.

He noticed Zeke and Jason silently staring at their lunches solemnly. They both wore worried looks on there faces but they didn't know the whole story. Only Chad did and it was freaking him out. Was this the last day that he would ever see Troy, would he die before school was even out.

Chad wanted to hit something, preferably something that didn't hit back. Provoking a school fight was just another excuse for his parents to start at him.

The story of Troy's _accident _was covering the entire school like wildfire. Rumors and gossip of why the wildcat's superstar fainted in first period floated around until no one was sure of who started it. It only enraged Chad further.

A boy at the table next to him was speaking in loud voices, telling his friends an outrageous story of how Troy took steroids or drugs and accidentally overdosed. Chad clenched his fists tight and turned to the table.

"Troy doesn't take drugs" Chad yelled loudly, making half the cafeteria glance over at him before going back to what they were doing.

The boy smirked, "I'd bet you'd stick up for your drug buddy, since your probably in on it as well"

Chad stood up to beat this insufferable boy into a bloody pulp for saying those things about his friend but Jason put a hand on his arm, keeping him down.

"Shut up and eat your lunch" he snarled at the boy, in a so un-like Jason way. Usually he was a quiet shy boy, but Chad noticed both his hands were clenched and his jaw tightened. Zeke was in a similar state.

The boy laughed, not taking any of them seriously. But did the last part of Jason's command.

"There jerks, Chad" Jason said, once the boys back was turned.

"They don't even know, Troy" Chad seethed, his teeth clenched tight. He recognized the boy as one of the groupies that greeted Troy every morning as he got off the bus. What a traitor.

Before Jason could reply, Chad stood up and left the lunch room, wanting to isolate himself away from all the jerks in the school. His patience was at its wit end and he didn't know how he was going to get through the next two hours.

He knew that right after school he was going to the hospital, even if he had to walk. He looked at the clock ands started a count down till he could see his friend again.

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It was the last period of the day and Gabriella sighed, looking at the whiteboard absently. Her eyes were looking but she wasn't really seeing. She could vaguely hear her teacher in the distance but couldn't think of anything but this morning.

Even though they had broken up, Gabriella still cared for Troy. He was the one to drag her out of her shell. The old Gabi was silent and shy.

She didn't move as the teacher instructed them to start their individual work or when Taylor came and sat next to her.

"So, how was the date with Ben on Friday, you didn't tell me" Taylor said, hyperly. Gabriella didn't answer and Taylor looked confused.

"Gabs, did you hear me?" she said, a little bit louder.

Gabriella jumped at her friend's voice and turned to meet Taylor.

"What?" she asked. Taylor sighed, annoyed.

"I asked you if you had fun with Ben on Friday. You were holding hands this morning so I am guessing it went very well. Ooh, did you guys kiss. You have to tell and leave nothing out" Taylor said, getting over her annoyance fast.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "No Tay! We didn't kiss and we were holding hands because he asked me to be his boyfriend this morning"

She said the last part in a slight whisper as if it was some safely guarded secret.

Taylor squealed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"So you and Troy are defiantly so over?" she asked, annoyance coming back into her voice at Troy's name.

Gabriella nodded, shyly. "Yea, we talked on Saturday. He really dumped me"

Taylor wrapped her hands around Gabriella's shoulder. "You better off without that loser. He's a jerk for what he did to you"

"Did you hear he fainted in first period this morning?" Gabriella asked, suddenly. Taylor nodded, not looking very worried.

"Uh, Huh! The word around school is he overdosed when he took his steroids" Taylor said, uncaring.

Gabriella bristled, looking angry. "Troy doesn't take drugs"

Taylor didn't notice her anger and continued. "Come on Gabs, it would explain a lot of things. Why he's so good and wins almost every game! And besides if you were taking a drug and using it illegally, would you let anyone in on it"

"He doesn't take drugs, Taylor. Troy doesn't need them" Gabriella said, glaring at her friend.

Taylor rolled her eyes but shut up seeing Gabriella was serious.

"Do you thinks he's hurt?" Gabriella asked, softly.

Taylor shrugged, "He's a dumb jock, Gabs. And he's a jerk! Maybe he deserves whatever is happening to him for dumping you."

Gabriella opened her mouth to reply but the bell rang and Taylor jumped up.

"I got to get to the library before I go home, so I'll talk you later" she said quickly, before running out of the room.

Gabriella sighed and watched her friend go. She thought of Troy, wondering if she should go see him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The first sound that Troy could consciously hear was a rhythmically beeping to his right and someone crying. The person sounded familiar but he couldn't put anymore thought into it as the pain of his aching body came back and he knew that, however long he had been in blissful sleep was now gone. The pain was back. It was the story of his life lately.

He let out a small groan and the person who was sobbing clutched onto his still hand harder. He hadn't even notice someone was holding it.

Someone called his name and he felt the same familiarity he felt waking up. He should know this person but his memories were hovering and he found it harder to make a coherent thought.

"Please, open you eyes baby" this person said, her voice on the verge of begging. He finally connected the voice with a face and felt stupid he couldn't remember the face of his own mother.

Troy slowly opened his eyes but regretted it a minute later as the harsh lights flashed in front of his sensitive eyes. He blinked as white spots invaded his vision and his world spun.

He sat up quickly hoping to help his body regain it's center but ended up making it worse. Bile came up his esophagus as his stomach churned. Hands pushed him back down into a lying position and the nausea slowly faded.

"Calm down, son" another voice spoke to him and he looked up to see his father, holding his right shoulder down gently. Tears were in his eyes and his face looked older than it really was. Instead of the middle-aged man he knew his father too be, this ragged looking person replaced him. Bruise colored bags hung under his brown eyes and the wrinkles around his eye sockets stood out clearly.

"Dad" Troy croaked, his throat dry. He felt a small pressure around the bridge of his nose and around his chin. Troy put his hand on the foreign object on his face and found he had a clear oxygen mask on. His mother clutched his hand harder again at her son's voice.

"I'm here son" Jack answered, sitting back down on the other side of his son, with Amber on Troy's left. Both were sitting in normal looking hospital chairs and looked like they had been there for a while.

"What happened?" Troy asked his voice cracking. Amber picked up a cup from the small table attached to his bed and took off the oxygen mask, putting the straw to his lips. Troy drank gratefully, feeling the cool water hit his parched throat.

After Amber set the cup down and replaced her son's mask, Troy asked his question again, this time hearing his voice fully.

"We don't know son, the doctor took some of your blood for tests and we haven't heard from him since." Jack said, griping Troy's shoulder gently.

Troy said nothing and glanced at the window. It was daylight outside. The world was still moving. How long had he been asleep?"

Amber brought his pale hand to her lips and kissed it, while pushing the hair that had fallen into her son's eyes.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked, not being able to hold it in any longer.

Jack sighed, "Almost two days"

Troy opened his mouth to ask another question but Amber interrupted him, not wanting to hear any depressing talk.

"Some of your friends stopped by to see you last night, while you were asleep" she said, giving her son a small smile.

"Oh" he answered, not sure how to respond.

"They all had to return to school this morning but I'd expect them back again today" Amber said.

Troy bit his lip and looked at his mother with a hopeful look on his face.

"Who came?" he asked, hoping Gabriella had come.

"Chad, Jason, Zeke and a bunch of other boys from your team. Oh and Ryan, Sharpay and Kelsi also visited" she replied, happily.

Troy tried not to look disappointed. He knew that they had broken up but he had had one sliver of hope that she would come and see him. He should have expected it.

He noticed his mother still had a death grip on his hand and tears still pooled in her eyes. Troy glanced at his father in confusion and than noticed he hadn't taken his hand of his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a little scared. Both Amber and Jack glanced at each other and kept silent.

"What happened?" Troy asked, again. His parents were keeping something from him and he was starting to get pissed off.

"We already told you, baby. The doctor—

"What happened?" Troy interrupted, forcefully.

Jack griped his shoulder a fraction harder and sighed. Troy wasn't going to let them out of this.

"When the ambulance dropped you off, you had some complications—

"What complications?" Troy cut him off.

They were so busy talking to each other that they didn't notice the doctor step into the room. He cut them all off, seeing they weren't paying attention.

"Nothing you should bother yourself about. All you should worry about is getting better" Dr. Williams said.

They all looked up at the doctor and Jack stood, not taking his hand off his son.

"Did you get the test results back?" he asked, promptly.

Dr. Williams nodded, "We did—

"What's wrong with my son? You said we had a year" Amber shouted, cutting the doctor off.

"I said you had six months to a year. Cancers tricky and because of how late we found it, the symptoms are going to be difficult" Dr. Williams said in rebuttal.

"What happened?" Troy asked, quietly. Accusations were getting them nowhere.

"You developed Cerebral Hypoxia because of a symptom of your Leukemia called Anemia. Anemia is a shortage of red blood cells in your blood and it reduced your ability to transfer oxygen to your tissues. In your case, your brain tissues"

"Did you feel confused any time yesterday or time seemed to slip by and you couldn't remember exactly what happened?" he continued.

Troy thought back to when he woke up with Max on his chest and then when he took the rather long run to school. He shook his head no. Except for the pounding headache, everything felt normal.

"No, I had a headache though" he answered, seeing the doctor wanted an answer.

Dr. Williams nodded, "Severe confusion and short-term memory loss are first signs that occur with Cerebral Hypoxia and than fainting soon after. The headache was probably a secondary warning but it's not uncommon to have one"

"What happens now?" he asked, feeling like he wasn't getting the whole story.

"Were going to keep you another day for observation but we shunted more oxygen to your brain and your Anemia was only temporarily. You'll be able to go home after that" the doctor said.

Amber breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down, holding Troy's hand. She rubbed his shoulder soothingly, trying to keep her tears in.

"Thank you doctor" Jack said, a small relieved smile on his face.

Dr. Williams was about to leave the room but Troy stopped him, still confused.

"So am I to expect this often. If I have a headache or… am confused, I should just come to the hospital" Troy said, spitefully. He could sense there was more to the story and it angered him that no one would tell him what was going on.

"You have to understand Troy. Acute Lymphatic Leukemia is a very fast acting cancer. It's usually found in children from 4-5 years of age and in the elderly. Every person has different reaction to it. Because we found the cancer in its later stages, it makes it so much more deadly. There's nothing we can do to stop the cancer but there is one other option you could take now that you've brought it up"

Troy's ears perked up at this. He was going to die, that much he got out of that little explanation. He was curious to what they could do now.

"We can keep you at the hospital, give you a room and comforts until such time you wouldn't need it anymore. You could have regular doses of morphine for the pain" Dr. Williams said.

Troy knew his answer before the doctor had even finished. He wasn't going to die lying in a hospital bed. He was going to live what was left of his life.

"No" he said, in a strong voice.

Dr. Williams nodded, suspecting as much. He felt Troy's questioning eyes on him and sighed, knowing he'd have to tell him the whole truth. He had an obligation to his patient and even though he knew that it would do nothing but make Troy more anxious, he had to tell him.

"Like your parents were trying to say, when the ambulance dropped you off you had some complications. Cerebral Hypoxia comes in two forms, severe and mild. Mild Cerebral Hypoxia results in fainting and then the body usually recognizes the problem and fixes it on its own" Dr. Williams paused to make sure Troy was still with him.

Troy nodded, and the doctor continued.

"Severe Cerebral Hypoxia is harder. It often times makes the person have Cyanosis, making their skin turn a bluish color. It also causes an elevated heart rate. If severe enough, their heart can stop beating and send the person into cardiac arrest"

"Is that what happened to me?" Troy asked, reading in between the lines.

Dr. Williams nodded silently.

"But you're alright now, baby! We can go home tomorrow" Amber said, running her hands over her son's hair. She smiled, tears in her eyes.

Troy nodded and smiled back, though it didn't reach his eyes.

TO BE CONTINEUD

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Plutobaby494: Well… how was it?!! Please review!! I'd like to know what everyone thinks!! 

Thanks to all my reviewers!!

MissLovelyEagle9, starry3y3dangel, dreamer 3097, xxxPrincessJololaxxx, .You.Hit.My.Heart., blue-eyed bombshell, Kloud-Syndrome (x2), running in circles, Reviewing-My-Anti-Drug, CrazyDreamin, MewtIsLove, penciltopaper, Angelayzn, .Charmzi., Ktluvs., xmusiclover93x, HPSmallCharm29, pixiepryte.

PLEASE R&R


	10. ReConstruction

Alrighty! I've been doing some thinking lately and I found that when I went through and read some of my stories I almost hit myself! I am now going through some major re-construction and will be redoing some of my stories!! So here is the list of the ones I will be redoing!

Redoing:

The Bird that Binds us

Under the Moonlight

The Serpents Son

It's my Life

Changing the future

Secrets that Bind

Amber meets Emerald

Live Like you were Dying

Back to the Past

Falling into Darkness

I have a lot of work ahead of me and I hope that you all read and review my new stories! The plots will still be the same and most likely won't change a whole lot but I don't like how some of these stories turned out so I am going to be redoing them!

Now I haven't exactly figured out if I am going to be deleting some but I don't think so! BUT if that changes I'll put it up in my profile!

I am going to be taking three at a time and I hope to have them all back up before the end of May! But we'll see how that goes! Thanks to all who read my stories and reviewed!

Plutobaby494


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